Fishing for Amber A Long Story |
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| Author:
| Carson, Ciaran |
| ISBN: | 978-1-86207-302-9 |
| Publication Date: | Jan 2001 |
| Publisher: | Granta Books
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| Book Format: | Hardback |
| List Price: | Contact Supplier contact
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Book Description:
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'It was long ago, and long ago it was; and if I'd been there, I wouldn't be here now; if I were here, and then to be now, I'd be an old storyteller, whose story might have been improved by time, could he remember it.' ..So begins the latest work of the writer of whom Charles Simic has said: 'He is one of the best poets we have on both sides of the Atlantic and the publication of every one of his books is a major event in both our literatures.' In the way it dazzles us with a weave of...
More Description'It was long ago, and long ago it was; and if I'd been there, I wouldn't be here now; if I were here, and then to be now, I'd be an old storyteller, whose story might have been improved by time, could he remember it.' ..So begins the latest work of the writer of whom Charles Simic has said: 'He is one of the best poets we have on both sides of the Atlantic and the publication of every one of his books is a major event in both our literatures.' In the way it dazzles us with a weave of narratives, Fishing for Amber surpasses Carson's previous book, The Star Factory; in the sheer pleasure it takes in stories it is at least the equal of Last Night's Fun, his first prose work. In form it is a kind of magic alphabet, from A-Z, with the subjects drawn from chillingly comic Irish fairy tales; from Ovid's Metamorphoses; and from the history of the Dutch Golden Age, the time of Vermeer the painter of light and Van Leeuwenhoek the inventor of microscopes. These three strands of - fiction? fable? - are united by the author's wonder at the preservation and enrichment of stories by time, and the transformation of vision by art. ..'Fishing for Amber is smoky, mecurial, tale telling and magnificent.' Independent on Sunday ..'This book is to be read for the sheer, idle, provoking pleasure of reading it.' Sunday Business Post ..'Beautifully written.to be consumed slowly and savoured rather than gulped down like a novel.' Image Magazine ..'This is a beautiful and bewitching book. It is funny and witty and enthralling.' Irish News